I can sing in front of people. I can go on a TV show, live, and not feel like I'm going to throw up.

Listen to the Bee Gees and you can learn to be a great writer.

I was a pop-music junkie. My parents were into Frank Sinatra and Doris Day. They weren't too excited when I had Aretha or the Stones pumping.

When I look at myself, I'd like not to have hair on the top of the ceiling.

I looked a little pasty. But hey, at least I didn't wet myself!

The thing that's tricky is sometimes the best voices - just because someone hits the big notes and sounds amazing - it doesn't necessarily mean they make the greatest artists.

I have breakups that I can credit to every song. In my twenties, I picked people who would create that dysfunction and drama, so I could draw upon it.

Songwriters tell the truth.

Some of the best songs that artists perform year after year are ones they hated.

I felt like I got more comfortable on "Idol" when I just started being myself and not trying to be what I thought I had to be.

I don't go to record stores to look at my albums, but it's always a thrill to see them.

The greater the fear, the greater the opportunity for growth.

A life without a positive purpose is nothing but a destiny placed on hold.

My Lord, my God here are my words

Never make decisions you will live to regret later in the near future.

Get up from the piano ... Oscar is in the house. Who wants to be at the piano when Oscar is there? Find something else to do.

How could I look my grandchildren in the eye and say I knew what was happening to the world and did nothing.

If a man says, "I'll call you," and he doesn't, he didn't forget. . . . he didn't lose your number. . . . he didn't die. He just didn't want to call you.

Whether its veterans disability claims, infrastructure projects, dam safety, or helping our farmers, what I am focused on is being useful for folks in the Hudson Valley.

No, he wasn't a pig. He was a lonely, hurt man who didn't know how to cope in a world that had turned its back on him. [Astrid]

I'd rather have a small part in a movie I love than a bigger part in one I don't care about.